Fender or safety device for vehicles.



PATENTED MAB.. 10, 1903.

nsu- .1. Lllf-: ..-.l- -llllifwnwi c. E. E. EELBIG. FENDER 0E SAFETYDEVICE PoE VEHICLES. APPLIQATIDN FILED un. 2e, 1902.

- no nonni...

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL EMIL BRUNO HELBIG, OF DRESDEN, GERMANY.

FENDER OR SAFETY DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,579, dated March10, 1903.

Application led January 29, 1902. Serial No. 91,801. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, CARL EMIL BRUNO HEL- BIG, a subject of the King ofSaxony, residing atDresden, Saxony, Empire of Germany,have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Fenders or SafetyDevices forVehicles, (for which I have made application for LettersPatent in Germany under No. H.26,263 II/QO, led July 2, 1901,) of whichthe following is a specication.

The fender or safety device which forms the subject of the presentinvention is adapted to pick up a person or animal who may happen tofall in front of avehicle in such a manner that the fallen body israised and carried along and protected from being run over by the wheelsof the vehicle.

The present invention comprises a devicefor instance, a chain, rope, orthe likeloosely suspended between two lateral supports and adapted topass over in close contact with the uneven surface of a road withoutbeing caught by or touching projections thereon. This device is adaptedto belowered and pass under any sufficiently heavy body which mayobstruct the path of the velicle, so that the body is raised or caughtup y it.

In practically carrying out my invention a safety device is constructedwhich in comparison with the scoop devices previously used has theadvantage of a yielding action of the front edge, which advantage it hasbeen found difficult to attain on account of the uneven surface of theroad.

According to the device forming the object of the present invention thebody in danger cannot be hurt by stones or uneven projections on theroad, as it is safely picked up without being squeezed or otherwiseinjured. A device of this kind has also the advantage that itsconstruction is very simple.

In order to prevent unnecessary wear, the device is so arranged underthe vehicle-frame that the front device and the scoop or receiver onlytouch the ground when an object is in the path of the vehicle.

The device can be brought into operative position by the driver in casesof emergency; but the preferred means is a device in front which onstrikin g the fallen body releases the fender and allows it to drop onthe ground.

The invention canbe carried out in various ways. A suitable constructionis shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l shows thesafety device arranged under the front end of the vehicle, the viewbeing a section on the line A B of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 shows a verticalcross-section of the road and a front'elevation of the edge of thefender, illustrating its accommodation to the uneven parts of thesurface of the road. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device, and Fig. Lshows a modified construction of the fiexible cross member.

A series of curved longitudinal bars 4. are connected by cross-bars l 23 and are rotatably arranged on the rear cross-bar 3, mounted inbearings 5 on the carriage-frame and suspended at the front ends bymeans of eyes 6 from hooks 7. The hooks 7 are connected by links 8 withan easily-movable frame or guard 10, suspended from the front part 9 ofthe vehicle. As shown in Fig. 3, the frame 10 is lined or covered withcloth and adapted to swing rearwardly on striking an lobstacle .in itspath, thereby releasing the hooks 7 and causing the safety device todrop to the ground. Springs l1 are provided to draw back and hold theeyes 6, so as to cause them to lay flat on the bars 4 in order toprevent them injuring the body caught. In the present construction theflexible member is formed by a chain 12, which is attached at each endto the bars 4 and hangs loosely between them. At intervals on lthe chainare blocks 13, arranged so as to allow sufficient play between eachother to maintain the mobility of the chain. These blocks, preferablytapering in the forward direction in the form of wedges, are providedwith forwardly-directed brush bristles A14E andY preferably withbristles 15, directed in a downward and rearward direction. Providedwith these bristles the blocks 13 slip easily over the roughestroad-surface, thus preventing a jumping and jerky motion of the chainshould the latter pass over a particularly uneven part. On the otherhand, the bristles 15, tending to raise the rear ends of the blocks 13,hold the forward ends of the IOO blocks, with their bristles 14, ontothe ground, The bristles 14 therefore are first pushed beneath the body,and then the blocks 13 also pass under the body. The chain device iscon` sequently prevented from slipping over the body and particularlyover thin parts of the body-as, for instance, the hands, arms, orfeet-and this even under very difficult circumstances--as,forinstance,when the ground is covered with snow-,since the chain Will actas if it were provided with a sharp cutting edge, injuries, however,which would occur in the latter case being entirely prevented. A similareffect can be obtained by providing the chain 12 instead of the blocks13 with a thick wool or flannel covering, preferably in single parts16,as shownin Fig. 4. A covering of soft india-rubber with a roughsurface could also be used.

Connected with the blocks 13 or with the links of the chain between theparts 16 isa ilexible wire or like netting 17, which is attached at itsrear end to the cross-bar 1 and forms the forward flexible part of thefender. In order to enable the body to safely and easily pass to therear part of the fender Without much friction, metal sheets or strips 22are preferably arranged upon the front flexible part, as shown in Fig.3, and are flexibly counected with theblock 13, so as to be capable ofdisplacement with regard to the cross-bars 1 and 2 in order to allow ofa free motion of the chain.

The lateral bars 4, extending in forward direction, carry, by means ofvertical bolts 19, rotatable disks 20. In the case of tramways orvehicles running on rails the bolts 19 are situated just above thegrooves of the rails with which they engage with their headshaped endswhen the device is lowered to the ground, Fig. 2. The preferablyconvexshaped disks 2O are provided with a soft cover or cushion and ontheir edges with horizontally-arranged bristles 21. The object of thesedisks is to cover the rail-grooves, and thus to prevent catching of thefingers or other parts of the body under the lateral bars. They are alsoadapted to pass beneath the body lying in the path of the track andaccording to the position of the body force and move the latter eithertoward the chain-1I. e., into the scoop of the safety device-oroutwardly out of the path of the Vehicle. The rigid portion of thefender is preferably enlarged beyond the bars 4 and beyond the width ofthe track, as shown in Fig. 3.

The whole catching-face of the fender 10 consists of an elastic cloth ornetting or the like connected with the front portion, which need notalways be a special part, such as a chain, rope, or the like, as itcould in some cases be formed by a sufficiently strong aud heavy frontseam or portion of the flexible part of the fender weighted, if desired.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A safety scoop device for vehicles comprising a rearwardly-hingedscoop, a'flexible front portion loosely suspended between two lateralsupports, and wedge-shaped blocks on the flexible front portion;substantially as described. l

2. A safety scoop device for vehicles comprising a rearwardly-hingedscoop, a flexible front portion loosely suspended between two lateralsupports, Wedge-shaped blocks on the flexible front portion, andforwardly-directed bristles on said blocks, substantially as described.

3. A safety scoop device for vehicles cornprising a rearwardly-hin gedscoop, a exible front portion loosely suspended between two lateralsupports, wedge-shaped blocks on the iiexible front portion,forwardlydirected bristles on said blocks and downwardly-directlybristles on the rear side of said blocks substantially as described.

4. In a safety scoop device for vehicles a flexible front chain, lateralsupports therefor, and a protective covering for same, substantially asdescribed.

5. A safety device of the kind described provided with horizontal rotaryside disks provided with horizontally-arranged bristles substantially asdescribed.

6. A safety scoop device for vehicles comprising a rearwardly-hingedscoop with longitudinal bars a flexible front portion loosely suspendedbetween lateral supports, transverse bars supporting the front ends ofthe longitudinal bars and a series of bars loosely mounted between saidfront portion and said transverse bars, substantially as described.

7. In a safety scoop device for vehicles, the combination with therearwardlyhinged scoop, the eyes or loops carried by the scoop, thehooks carried bythe vehicle for engaging the eyes to hold the scoopelevated, the swinging front guard the link or rod connecting said hooksand front guard and the springs for holding the eyes flat on 'the scoop,when the hooks are released to permit the scoop to drop; substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL EMIL BRUNO HELBIG.

Witnesses:

KARL GREIERT, O'rro WoLFF.

IOO

IIO

